Midleton 3 Carrigaline United 1 Midleton put in a superb team performance when they defeated Carrigaline United to reach the FAI U17 National Cup final in front of a large attendance at Knockgriffin Park on Saturday. They'll take on Dublin side Belvedere in the decider, which will be held in Cork in the coming weeks. It's important to praise 19-year-old referee Ben Coonan from Cork, who had an excellent game and it’s refreshing to see such excellent young talent coming through for the Irish Soccer Referee’s Society. After a very competitive first half it was the Midleton side who led at half-time with a well-taken goal by Alex McSweeney in the eighth minute. The hosts increased their lead three minutes after the restart when Ben Fitzgerald’s corner sailed into the roof of the net. Carrig did pull a goal back to reduce the deficit through Daniel McSorley, however, the Magpies sealed the game in the 83rd minute when Max Murphy headed home. Midleton opened the scoring after Alex McSweeney stung the hands of Cillian Beale-O’Shaughnessy in the Carrigaline goal and he was first to react to the loose ball to smash home from close range. They came very close to increasing their lead in the 22nd minute. Alex Horgan released Rian Thornhill and when he was bearing down on goal it took a superb and timely tackle by Carrig’s Max Rainey-McCarthy to avert the danger. Daniel McSorley was working hard leading the line for Carrig and when he raced onto a through ball by Luke Jordan, but Liam Lynch saw the danger and cleared his lines. He had another great opportunity to levelling the game in the 35th minute when Carrig were awarded a free on the edge of the box but Colm Noonan made a smart save to smother his powerful effort. The home side came agonisingly close to increasing their lead in the 42nd minute when Thornhill was again through and when he lifted his effort over the advancing Beale-O’Shaughnessy, he saw his effort cleared off the line by Carrig’s centre-back Paul Kelly. Carrig did have the ball in the net a minute later when McSorley's effort flew into the net, however, it was ruled out for offside. The Magpies made a bright start to the second half and when Thornhill turned his defender inside the box in the 47th minute forcing a good save from Beale-O’Shaughnessy. However, from the resulting corner, Ben Fitzgerald saw his curling effort fly straight into the roof of the net to lead 2-0. The visitors pulled a goal back in the 68th minute when Daniel McSorley's effort's flew into the net. Carrig had their tails up after the goal and came very close to levelling the game in the 74th minute. Joey Fielding skipped past his defender but his shot was cleared off the line by Max Murphy. Midleton weathered all the Carrig pressure and sealed the deal when Max Murphy found space at the back post to head in Alex McSweeney’s corner. MIDLETON: Colm Noonan, Dara Birdthisle, Liam Lynch, Max Murphy, Cillian Scanlon, Ben Fitzgerald, Alex Horgan, Alex McSweeney, Rian Thornhill, Owen Noonan, Sean Óg Madden. Subs: James O’Meara for Horgan (58), Charlie McCarthy for Noonan (78), Zak Bulter for McSweeney (84), Sean Dempsey for Thornhill (88). CARRIGALINE UNITED: Cillian Beale-O’Shaughnessy, Max Rainey-McCarthy, Liam Collins, Paul Kelly, David Murphy, Josh O’Callaghan, Alex O’Connell, Sam Donoghue, Daniel McSorley, Joey Fielding, Luke Jordan. Subs: Cillian Murphy for Rainey-McCarthy (68), Daniel O’Mahony for McSorey (82), Mark Looney for Jordan (82). Referee: Bobby Coonan. Assistant Referees: Damian Klier, Patrick O’Keeffe.